Rod Lurie Unleashes the "Dogs"

"Resurrecting the Champ" helmer Rod Lurie is poised to direct a remake of 1971's "Straw Dogs" for Screen Gems.

In his wait to see "Resurrecting the Champ", director Rod Lurie has satisfyingly landed deals to helm thriller picture "Straw Dogs", a remake of the 1971 feature of the same title, at Screen Gems.

Though already hired TV writer Reed Steiner to pen the script with Marc Frydman producing, Screen Gems turns out to still be in the process of obtaining the rights to the original, which initially was produced by ABC Pictures Corp.

The 1971 version, directed by Sam Peckinpah and toplined by Dustin Hoffman, centered on a young American and his English wife who settle in rural England only to then face increasingly vicious local harassment. The new one, on the other hand, is said to take place in U.S. instead.